1. Field of the Invention
This invention is directed to dispensing devices generally, and more particularly to devices adapted for personal use by a smoker to introduce a quantity of treatment fluid into a cigarette, cigar or a charge of pipe tobacco to modify the character of the combustion products produced by smoking. Devices of the invention disclosed herein are characterized by their convenience and effectiveness in use by the smoker, as well as their simplicity and economy of manufacture.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Tobacco treatment devices intended for consumer use have frequently been proposed, an example of one such device pertinent to this invention being illustrated and described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,677,269. According to that patent, the device contains a compartment within which a cigarette is placed by the smoker, after which a bellows element of the device is operated to induce a pressure differential between opposite ends of the cigarette, and a charge of treatment fluid is sumultaneously introduced and caused to be drawn into and to permeate the tobacco. That prior device has a relatively complicated mechanical design and is difficult to mass produce economically; moreover it lacks complete suitability for average consumer use.
Many other devices ranging from rather elemental types such as those illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,333,049 and 3,319,632, to more complex arrangements such as those illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,636,959, 3,732,872 and 3,847,162, are representative of prior known devices thought to be most pertinent to the invention disclosed here. The disadvantage of those prior devices in terms of convenience and sevicability for average consumer use, manufacturing economy as well as user economy, are believed to be responsible in good measure for the relatively low degree of acceptance such devices have received in the trade.
It is accordingly a principal objective of this invention to provide a device for treatment of smoking tobacco in consumer unit form; i.e., as a cigarette, cigar or charge of pipe tobacco, in order to modify the combustion products of the tobacco and render it more acceptable to the smoker.